Why Piper’s Turn to the Dark Side on ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Works

Warning: This essay contains major spoilers from the new season of “Orange Is the New Black.” All 13 episodes are currently available on Netflix.

Let’s face it: Playing the good girl all the time gets boring really fast.

When Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) first showed up at Litchfield Penitentiary at the start of Netflix‘s monster hit “Orange Is the New Black,” she was a scared, street-smarts-lacking pampered white girl who, when not stuck with bland story lines, was pitifully inept at managing prison life. But now, at the close of Season 3, she has evolved into a Godfather-esque crime boss within Litchfield’s walls, having become more of a crook on the inside than she ever was on the outside. And you know what? She’s scary now.